Monitoring a driver of a vehicle

Abstract

A driver state monitoring (DSM) system includes a wearable device main body worn by a user, a display unit, and an information collection unit that collects information related to a body state of the user. The DSM system includes a controller that, based on the collected information, senses a situation associated with the user's body state, and converts the collected information into a numerical value representing the body state of the user in context of the sensed situation. The controller further calculates a well-driving score for the user based on the numerical value that represents the body state of the user in context of the sensed situation; and controls at least one of the display unit or an image information output device to display the well-driving score and the numerical value that represents the body state of the user in context of the sensed situation.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A driver state monitoring (DSM) system configured to interact with a vehicle, the DSM system comprising:
 a wearable device comprising a main body configured to be worn by a user; 
 a display unit disposed in the main body; 
 an information collection unit disposed in the main body and configured to collect information related to a body state of the user; and 
 a controller disposed in the main body and configured to: 
 sense a plurality of situations associated with the user's body state based on the collected information; 
 for each of the sensed plurality of situations, determine body states of the user based on the collected information; 
 digitize the determined body states of the user into a plurality of numerical values that respectively represent the determined body states of the user corresponding to each sensed situation, based on a plurality of pre-stored information for the sensed plurality of situations associated with different body states of the user; 
 determine whether the vehicle connected to the wearable device is in a state of being driven; 
 based on a determination that the vehicle being in the state of being driven, calculate a well-driving score for the user based on a sum of the numerical values that respectively represent the determined body states of the user corresponding to each sensed situation before the user driving the vehicle; and 
 based on the user driving the vehicle, control at least one of the display unit or an image information output device disposed in the vehicle to display the well-driving score and the numerical values that respectively represent the determined body states of the user corresponding to each sensed situation, 
 wherein the plurality of pre-stored information for the sensed plurality of situations comprises information including a user's average sleep time corresponding to an average of durations of sleep of the user, information including a user's average meal size, and information including a user's average exercise quantity. 
 
     
     
       2. The DSM system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein, the controller is further configured to: 
 based on a determination that the sensed situation corresponds to any one of the user sleeping, the user having a meal, or the user exercising, compare the collected information to the pre-stored plurality of information, 
 based on a result of the comparison of the collected information to the pre-stored plurality of information, determine whether a duration of sleep of the user, a size of the meal of the user, or a quantity of exercise of the user corresponds to (i) an excessive state in which the duration of sleep of the user, the size of the meal of the user, or the quantity of exercise of the user is greater than the user's average sleep time, average meal size, or average exercise quantity, respectively, or (ii) an insufficient state in which the duration of sleep of the user, the size of the meal of the user, or the quantity of exercise of the user is less than the user's average sleep time, average meal size, or average exercise quantity, respectively, and 
 digitize any one of the determined body states of the user corresponding to the one of the user sleeping situation, the user having the meal, or the user exercising, into (i) a first numerical value based on a determination that the duration of sleep of the user, the size of the meal of the user, or the quantity of exercise of the user corresponds to the excessive state, and (ii) a second numerical value based on a determination that the duration of sleep of the user, the size of the meal of the user, or the quantity of exercise of the user corresponds to the insufficient state, the second numerical value being different from the first numerical value. 
 
     
     
       3. The DSM system of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of pre-stored information for the sensed situation further includes information based on a driving behavior of the user corresponding to the body state of the user. 
     
     
       4. The DSM system of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of pre-stored information further includes previously collected information regarding an average sleep duration, an average meal size, or an average exercise quantity of a person whose age is within a predetermined range of an age of the user, or whose body information is within a predetermined range of one of the user's average sleep time, the user's average meal size, or the user's average exercise quantity, and
 wherein the controller is further configured to: 
 determine an existence of information obtained by measuring the user's average sleep time, the user's average meal size and the user's average exercise quantity exist; and 
 based on determining the existence of information obtained by measuring the user's average sleep time, the user's average meal size and the user's average exercise quantity exist, converting the user's body state into each numerical value based on the previously collected information or based on the measured information. 
 
     
     
       5. The DSM system of  claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to change the numerical values corresponding to the determined body states of the user according to a drowsiness characteristic of the user that is previously determined. 
     
     
       6. The DSM system of  claim 5 , wherein the controller is further configured to, based on detecting a user's drowsy state,
 collect information regarding, for each of a plurality of situations, a time from when the situation has ended to when the user's drowsy state is detected, and 
 determine the drowsiness characteristic of the user for each situation by measuring an average duration time for each situation. 
 
     
     
       7. The DSM system of  claim 6 , wherein the controller is further configured to perform at least one predetermined function for preventing the user's drowsy driving, the function including changing an environmental state of the vehicle to a particular setting among a plurality of settings that are indicated in pre-collected setting information,
 wherein the pre-collected setting information includes environmental setting information of the vehicle that was collected based on the controller determining that the user was driving the vehicle in an awakened state. 
 
     
     
       8. The DSM system of  claim 7 , wherein, the controller is further configured to:
 determine whether the user's body state is converted into the awakened state subsequent to the environmental state of the vehicle being changed to the particular setting, and 
 based on determining whether the user's body state is converted into the awakened state subsequent to the environmental state of the vehicle being changed to the particular setting, change the environmental state of the vehicle to another setting or to indicate a weight of the particular setting in the pre-collected setting information. 
 
     
     
       9. The DSM system of  claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to change the environmental state of the vehicle to another setting by selecting a setting from the pre-collected environmental setting information in order of highest weight. 
     
     
       10. The DSM system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 determine whether the user is in a rest state based on a state of the vehicle, and 
 based on determining that the user is in the rest state, change a numerical value corresponding to the rest state of the user among the plurality of values. 
 
     
     
       11. The DSM system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 based on a determination whether the well-driving score is less than a predetermined level, estimate whether a user's drowsy driving probability is greater than a threshold, and 
 based on an estimation result of whether the user's drowsy driving probability is greater than the threshold, perform at least one of predetermined functions for preventing the user's drowsy driving. 
 
     
     
       12. The DSM system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to display, on the display unit and based on determining that the driving of the vehicle is ended, a result obtained by measuring a change in the user's body state during driving of the vehicle, and
 wherein the change in the user's body state is measured based on sensing a biological signal of the user. 
 
     
     
       13. The DSM system of  claim 1 , wherein the information collection unit is further configured to collect information related to the user's body state from a peripheral device that is external to the DSM system. 
     
     
       14. The DSM system of  claim 1 , where the information collection unit is further configured to collect environmental information regarding the vehicle. 
     
     
       15. A method for controlling a driver state monitoring (DSM) system capable of interacting with a vehicle, the method comprising:
 collecting, by a wearable device worn by a user, environmental information around the wearable device; 
 sensing, by the wearable device, a plurality of situations of the user based on the collected environmental information; 
 for each of the sensed plurality of situations, determining body states of the user that respectively represent the sensed plurality of situations of the user based on the collected environmental information; 
 digitizing the determined body states of the user into a plurality of numerical values that respectively represent the determined body states of the user corresponding to each sensed situation, based on a plurality of pre-stored information for the sensed plurality of situations associated with the body states; 
 determining whether the vehicle connected to the wearable device is in a state of being driven; 
 based on a determination that the vehicle being in the state of being driven, calculating a well-driving score for the user based on a sum of the numerical values that respectively represent the determined body states of the user corresponding to each sensed situation before the user driving the vehicle; and 
 based on the user driving the vehicle, controlling at least one of a display unit or an image information output device to display the well-driving score and the plurality of numerical values that represent the body states of the user corresponding to each sensed situation, 
 wherein the plurality of pre-stored information for the sensed plurality of situations comprises information including a user's average sleep time corresponding to an average of durations of sleep of the user, information including a user's average meal size, and information including a user's average exercise quantity. 
 
     
     
       16. A vehicle comprising:
 a driver state monitoring (DSM) system configured to perform operations that include:
 sensing, by a wearable device worn by a user, a plurality of situations of the user based on environmental information around the user; 
 collecting, by the wearable device, information related to a body state of the user; 
 for each of the sensed plurality of situations, determining body states of the user that respectively represent the sensed plurality of situations of the user based on the collected information related to the body state of the user; 
 digitizing the determined body states of the user into a plurality of numerical values that represent respectively corresponds to the determined body states of the user corresponding to each sensed situation, based on a plurality of pre-stored information for the sensed plurality of situations; 
 determining whether the vehicle connected to the wearable device is in a state of being driven; 
 based on a determination that the vehicle being in the state of being driven, calculating a well-driving score for the user based on sum of the numerical values that respectively represent the body states of the user corresponding to each sensed situation; and 
 based on the user driving the vehicle, controlling at least one of a display unit or an image information output device to display the well-driving score and the plurality of numerical values that respectively represent the determined body states of the user, 
 wherein the plurality of pre-stored information for the sensed plurality of situations comprises information including a user's average sleep time corresponding to an average of durations of sleep of the user, information including a user's average meal size, and information including a user's average exercise quantity.